Lurk in the Dark
by StoryQuipster
Summary: [Collection of Yatori Oneshots] Proposal: In the end, Yato was left with no other option. He was going to have to ask Hiyori to be his wife.
1. Jealous

**Jealous**

* * *

Yato decided that bringing Hiyori along was definitely the worst idea he had ever come up with.

They hadn't been standing in his client's lawn for more than five seconds and already he could tell that he would _not_ be enjoying the job. The client himself wasn't the problem—he was a kindly old man who smiled often and spoke in a thin, silvery voice. Upon meeting them, he had immediately offered them snacks and kept bowing profusely, thanking them for coming over at such short notice and at a very small sum too. The man was kind and Yato liked him a lot.

His grandson on the other hand, was one of the most irritating, little pricks Yato had ever encountered. The moment the boy had been introduced to Hiyori, he wouldn't stop staring at her or attempting to "accidentally" brush his arms against hers. It wouldn't have bothered him as much if it weren't for the fact that the boy's attempts at flirting with her were extremely aggressive. He even insisted on helping the two of them decorate the lawn, even though his presence was clearly _not_ needed.

Yato had been hired to set up the old man's lawn for a party he was having. He hired a couple of people to do it but he wasn't able to raise enough money to pay them and the deal fell through. The party would be a surprise for his wife who would be coming out of the hospital in a few hours and he would hate for it to be cancelled. While Yato and Hiyori dealt with the preparations, Mokomichi-san (the old man who hired them) would go and pick up his wife.

Yato would have brought Yukine along, as he usually did, but they had a massive argument the night before and Yukine had refused to come with him, no matter how hard he had pleaded or apologized. In the end, he had no choice but to ask Hiyori to help him out. God though he may be, setting up a venue for a party in just a few hours is something that even he couldn't do alone.

"You know, I never really got your name," the boy said as the three of them gathered boxes of party supplies from the house. He was around Hiyori's age and about a full head taller than her, with close cropped black hair and leering, beady eyes.

"Oh, it's Hiyori. Iki Hiyori," she replied, completely oblivious to the seething look on Yato's face.

"You never got my name too," Yato said, irate at being excluded from the conversation.

"Mokomichi Tatsuo," the boy said, ignoring Yato's previous comment. He held his hand out and gave her a flirty smile that she didn't seem to catch. "You don't go to Funabashi, do you?"

"No. I go to another school," Hiyori said. The three of them set the boxes down and started sorting through the piles of streamers and deflated balloons.

"I thought so," Tatsuo said as he playfully nudged her shoulder. "If you schooled there, I definitely would've remembered someone as pretty as you."

To his horror, Hiyori looked more flattered than embarrassed and the corners of her lips actually pulled into a bemused smile.

"Ah, thanks—''

"I don't go to Funabashi either!" Yato obnoxiously interjected, eager to divert Hiyori's attention away from Tatsuo. He glared at the boy, his eyes narrowing into catlike slits.

Tatsuo's brows ticked upward. "Why would you? You must already be in college, right? You're like, really old."

"I'm not that old!" Yato irritably retorted.

"Okay!" Hiyori loudly interrupted, coming in between the two boys. She pulled Yato away from Tatsuo and whispered, "Yato, what are you doing? Calm down, okay?"

"I want to go," he abruptly told her.

Her nose scrunched up in confusion. "What?"

"I want to go!" he whined, his voice becoming petulant.

"But...but...we can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because! We already agreed to help Mokomichi-san," Hiyori said. She raised a brow at him. "And besides, don't you need the five yen?"

"Who cares about the five yen? I want to go now!" he said, his demeanor increasingly morphing into that of a five-year-old.

"Yato, we can't. This is for his sick wife, remember? This party _needs_ to happen. We can't just up and leave him. Who's going to set everything up in such short notice?" she demanded.

He sent a resentful glare in Tatsuo's direction. "He has his shitty grandson for that."

"Yato, not so loud—''

" _Hiyorrriii_. I don't like him."

"Why not? He seems like a nice person."

"He isn't! He's sketchy. I don't like him."

"That's no excuse. We still need to finish the job."

"But—''

"We're finishing the job," Hiyori sternly said.

"Fine!" Yato responded, lips pursed into a pout. He opened his mouth to say something else but before he could, Tatsuo interrupted, saying, "Hiyori-chan! Would you mind helping me unpack all these streamers?"

"He called you Hiyori-chan," Yato hissed in outrage. " _Hiyori-chan_. What the hell? He doesn't even know you that well."

"Yato," she said, looking tired. "Stop it. You're overreacting."

"I am not overreacting!"

"Yato, come on."

She gave him a gentle smile and immediately, he could feel all of his irritation ebbing away.

"This is for that poor man's wife. Let's just get through this and when we're finished, we can go out for food okay?"

He nodded, feeling so much better.

"Hiyori-chan!"

And just like that, he was irritated once again.

The two of them turned to look at Tatsuo, who was shooting Hiyori an oily smile, "I'd hate to interrupt you from your discussion but we really need to start unpacking these streamers."

"Okay, Tatsuo-san," Hiyori smiled as she moved towards him. Yato started to follow her but then, Tatsuo added, "Oh, but ugh...um..."

"Yato," Yato sullenly supplied.

"Yeah. Ya-to," Tatsuo continued, purposefully splitting up the syllables of Yato's name in an annoying fashion. "D'you think you could go and get the party lights and fix the wiring up?"

Yato immediately bristled.

"Why can't you get it?"

"Because I'm helping Hiyori-chan."

"But—''

Before Yato could finish, Tatsuo moved towards him and whispered, "And also, if I remember correctly, my obisan hired you which means you're working for him. And I'm his grandson so technically you're also working for _me._ So you kind of have to do what I say."

Yato's shoulders immediately tensed.

He was about seconds away from unleashing divine punishment on the little shit but then he remembered how desperate the old man had been and how lovingly he spoke of his wife. It wasn't his fault that his grandson was a total prick.

"Fine. I'll get the party lights," he glowered. He glared at Tatsuo for a moment before turning on his heel and storming off.

* * *

Three hours had already passed and Yato was quickly reaching the threshold of all his self-control.

Tatsuo had managed to keep him away from Hiyori by delegating him to tedious jobs that were very time consuming. He had been forced to clean the roof's gutter, fix up the wiring for the party lights and haul the heavy tables and chairs around. Meanwhile, Hiyori and Tatsuo were left with the convenient tasks of arranging the flowers, folding napkins and setting the tablecloth.

What bothered him the most, more than Tatsuo's increasingly brazen attempts at flirting with Hiyori, was that Hiyori herself didn't seem too affected by them. Every time Tatsuo dropped a sleazy pick-up line, she would merely send him a bemused smile. That annoyed him for several reasons. The first was that he flirted (or at least tried to) with Hiyori _all the time_ and she always reacted badly, stuttering and demanding that he stop being creepy.

The second was that Tatsuo moved way _too close_ to her and stared at her in a way that Yato did not like. It reminded him of the way his father talked about how he kissed Hiyori; the way Tatsuo's eyes focused on her was very, very _skeevy_. Hiyori, however, only reacted with mild indifference and never once bothered to unleash her Jungle Savate kick on the bastard. Either she was completely oblivious to all of Tatsuo's attempts or she secretly enjoyed it.

Case in point, when they were trying to fold the napkins, Tatsuo insisted that they use the most complicated napkin fold possible and Hiyori ended up having some trouble. Tatsuo then took it upon himself to "teach" her by sitting very close to her and encircling his hands around her wrist, guiding her through the movements. Hiyori didn't seem bothered by it and when they finished, she had given him a beaming smile as she thanked him. Yato had stood by the corner, twisting the string of party lights in his hands and seething at how close the two of them were.

It hadn't even been long before the little shit was at it again. When Hiyori was trying to pull some leaves for their centerpieces, Tatsuo had leaned in from behind her, pressing his chest against her back and bringing his mouth close to her ear, saying, "Let me get that for you, Hiyori-chan."

Yato had nearly flung the trowel he was holding at Tatsuo's head and the only reason why he didn't do it was because Hiyori had stepped away from Tatsuo and politely told him that she was uncomfortable with him being so close. Then, the two of them went back to the task of gathering up leaves and flowers and Yato was left angrily shoveling the grime trapped in the gutter and thinking of various ways he could discreetly dump them on to Tatsuo's head.

They talked a lot too. He couldn't tell what they were talking about because he was too busy assembling the tables and carrying them around. But he could see them laughing and nudging each other's shoulders. Whatever Hiyori's thoughts were about Tatsuo, it was clear that she at least got along well with him.

Suddenly, he was very afraid that she would end up liking him and spending more time with him. Just the thought sent his stomach lurching—he wouldn't be able to bear if Hiyori got a boyfriend and it wasn't _him_. Or worse. What if she ended up forgetting about him when they started dating? He gripped one dismantled table leg tightly and tried to suppress the urge to use it to whack Tatsuo all the way to Takamagahara.

This was all Yukine's fault, he sourly thought. If Yukine had just accepted his apology then he wouldn't have had to invite Hiyori and Hiyori wouldn't have met Tatsuo. He didn't even understand what the big deal was with leaving candy in his pockets; it wasn't as if the stains couldn't be washed off.

He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he was doing this for the old man—who was, by the way, a very respectable, considerate client. And Tatsuo hadn't done anything that was too out of line so he could deal with it for another hour more.

He had moved on to inflating the balloons when he heard Tatsuo and Hiyori talking about how to decorate the place with streamers. The conversation seemed innocuous enough but from the corner of his eyes, Yato could see him invading Hiyori's personal space again. While describing how he wanted the streamers pinned up, he had one hand pointing and gesturing to the various places and another that was slowly moving along the curve of her back—

Okay.

 _That was it._

Before he could react, a loud pop resounded across the area and he looked down and saw that he had accidentally smashed the balloon he was inflating.

"What the fuck?" Tatsuo snapped, tearing himself away from Hiyori. He marched over towards Yato, eyes bright with hostility. "Oi! Be careful with those balloons! There are only a few of those and—''

Before he could finish, Yato swung an arm and punched him on the jaw.

"Ow! What the fuck!?" Tatsuo screeched in annoyance.

"Yato!" Hiyori gasped, shooting him a look of disapproval.

"He was trying to grope you!" Yato accusingly said.

Hiyori's mouth popped open and she whipped her head to face Tatsuo. "What?"

"We're leaving!" he declared.

"But we haven't even finished—''

"I want to leave!" Yato insistently said. They had mostly finished setting up anyway so all that was left to be done was to bring the food out and finish decorating the place with streamers and balloons.

"But you won't get your five yen—''

"Hiyori. _Let's go,"_ he said. He could see Hiyori staring at him, trying to see if this was another one of his childish outbursts. Then, her eyes widened when she realized that he was dead serious and without another word, she quickly made her way over to him.

"Hey! What are you doing? We're not finished here yet!" Tatsuo said as he attempted to grab Hiyori's shoulder. "You can't just leave—''

Yato flung one of the balloons at him and it bounced harmlessly off his head. Tatsuo immediately started spluttering.

"Have fun putting the streamers up!" Yato said as he grabbed Hiyori's hand and pulled her forward.

* * *

"Yato!" Hiyori barked, once they were a good distance away from the house. "What was all that about? Why did you suddenly punch him on the face?"

"Because he was trying to take advantage of you!" Yato replied.

She gave him a blank look. "Take advantage of me? Yato I don't think he was—''

"Yes, he was!" He buried his face against his hands and moaned, "You're just too sweet and innocent and pure to realize it—''

Hiyori's cheeks reddened and she sputtered, "What on earth are you talking about? Were we even in the same place? Tatsuo-san has done nothing but be helpful—''

"What the hell are you talking about? He did nothing but flirt with you the whole time! And you even seemed to _enjoy_ it!"

"Excuse me?" Hiyori said, offended.

"Yes!" Yato said, nodding vigorously. "You like him don't you?"

"I do not."

"Yes you do! Exhibit A, he was being really touchy-feely with you when you were folding napkins and you didn't try to kick his ass!"

"Why would I kick his ass?" she spluttered. "He was just _teaching_ me!"

"Exhibit B, he came up from behind you and you were totally okay with it!"

"I was not. I made it known to him that I did not like him invading my personal space by _politely_ telling him so. Unlike _you_ , I actually have manners."

"Exhibit C, he tried to feel you up—''

"And if he really was about to do something inappropriate, then I would have gladly done a headlock on him," she testily replied.

"Okay, fine! But what about everything else, huh? What's your excuse? How could you be okay with him flirting with you? It's not fair!" Yato whined.

"What?"

"It's not fair! Every time I try to flirt with you, you either Jungle Savate me or call me creepy!" he accusingly said.

"That's...that's because you _are_ creepy!"

"What are you talking about?" he said, genuinely confused. "I've done nothing but be romantic whenever I show my affections for you."

"Buying me bras from Capyperland is romantic?" Hiyori demanded.

"Underwear is a basic human right. I was trying to provide for you!"

"You also hacked my phone and put your picture up as my wallpaper!"

"It's not my fault you have a very easy password. And I did that so you wouldn't forget me."

He actually did that because he wanted other people to think that Hiyori was dating him but she didn't need to know that.

"You also wanted to kill every single boy I know."

"I didn't want to kill them. I wanted to do pest control."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"I just wanted to make sure that they were treating you in a respectful manner!"

"What about you stalking me on twitter?"

"If there's anyone here who's a stalker, it's _you_. You're the one who's able to find me from anywhere."

Hiyori flushed, looking embarrassed. "How many times do I have to tell you that I used _logic_ to find you when you and Bishamon were fighting?"

"Yeah, right," he disbelievingly said. He still had no idea how she managed to track him at that time but he was very sure that it had nothing to do with logic.

She huffed, folded her arms and looked away from him. "What about all those times you sent me messages asking about spring weddings and gondola rides, huh?"

"I...wanted to think ahead. It's always good to plan for the future."

Hiyori's cheeks flushed. "Plan for the future?"

"You never know what's going to happen right?" It was probably best that he didn't mention that he wanted to marry her. That would make his stunning future proposal less surprising and romantic.

"What about that time you wore my middle school uniform?" she demanded.

"Um..I wanted to be close to you?" he weakly said as he racked his brains for another excuse.

Okay, fine.

That was a _little_ creepy.

Maybe he should start googling tips on how to romance girls.

Yato sighed, his shoulders slumping. When he did all those things, he thought that he was showing Hiyori that he cherished her. But all he did was make her feel uncomfortable.

"You're right," he sadly said. He turned away from her, walking forward and putting distance between the two of them. "I'm no better than Tatsuo."

He continued to walk, his lips pressed together into a frown. He couldn't believe how deluded he had been. All he ever wanted was to make her happy but he couldn't even do that right. Hiyori's face fell and her brows pinched together with guilt upon seeing the expression on his face.

"Yato! Wait!" Hiyori said, lurching forward and grabbing one of Yato's hands. He turned his head a fraction of an inch towards her.

"I...I..." she sputtered, suddenly looking embarrassed. Her cheeks were an even darker shade of red and she was looking at everywhere but him.

"Hiyori?" he prodded, concerned.

"I just wanted to tell you that..." She took a deep breath as if to steady herself. "That you're not _that_ creepy."

"Eh?"

"I mean...I mean...well, there was that time you spent all of your money to buy art supplies just so you could make a picture book to help me remember. And...and...then there was also that time you confronted Bishamon just to get me back. I thought it was nice that you didn't think about the consequences and that all you cared about was my safety." She paused for a moment, as if to catch her breath. Yato stared at her carefully, hardly daring to believe her words.

"And I really admired how you were willing to cut our ties to keep me safe. That was really selfless of you. If...if the roles were reversed, I don't think I would have been able to do it," she mumbled, the redness of her face spreading to the tips of her ears and her neck.

"H-Hiyori—''

"And I also remember that time we went to Capyperland," she said, her lips twisting into a pensive smile. "You had dragged me all over the place even though I never really wanted to be there. But when you found out how unhappy I was, you didn't even hesitate in saying that we should go home. And there was that time when—''

She abruptly stopped and looked away. Her hand was still wrapped around his and it was increasingly becoming sticky with sweat.

"My point is that..." She closed her eyes and chewed on her bottom lip. "You're really _sweet_ Yato."

Yato stared at her for several moments, hardly daring to believe what she had just said. He looked at her hand in his and wordlessly opened and closed his mouth. Finally, he managed to sputter, "H-Hiyori..."

"Y-Yeah..."

He used his free hand to point a finger at himself. "Does...does that mean that you like me—''

"N-Not in that way!" Hiyori embarassedly said, wrenching her hand away from his.

Yato shook his head and gave her a disbelieving grin.

Well, it looked as if he didn't need to google romance tips after all.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Naw, you still need to Yato, hahaa But anyway, I'm thinking of making this into a series of oneshots because I have other fic ideas and plots saved up. I won't label it as that though until I can put another story up.

Thank you for reading and please tell me what you think if you have the time! :)


	2. Wish

**Wish**

* * *

Yato was one hundred percent sure that Hiyori was hiding something from him.

It all started when they went to Tenjin's shrine to collect payment for a job he had once again delegated to Yato. Hiyori pulled Tenjin aside, claiming that she wanted to ask him a very important question about school. But when she went to catch up with them moments later, her face was a deep shade of red. Tenjin himself looked vaguely amused and as he walked them back to the gate, he looked at Hiyori and said, "Go on Thursdays. He's usually not as busy by then."

Yato pestered her about who "he" was the whole walk home but she would only respond to his questions with evasive replies or annoyed declarations about how nosy he was. He finally gave up, figuring that she had asked Tenjin for help in finding a tutor and he had given her a referral. She was probably just too proud to admit that she was struggling hard enough in a subject to need extra help.

That wasn't the end of her mysterious behavior. Since then, she began to act very strangely around him, often becoming flustered over the littlest things he would say. She also became distracted; her eyes having that far-away look that often came to people when they were consumed with a problem. That worried him greatly. He didn't ever want her to feel troubled or upset and if she was, he wanted to do everything he could to help. He told her this many times but she would merely smile at him and re-assure him that she was fine and that what concerned her was something that she could deal with on her own.

She became secretive too. Once, she locked herself in her room and wouldn't let him or Yukine in, no matter how hard pleaded. She claimed that she had a very important test coming up and she didn't want to be disturbed. But when he went to peek at her from the window, he could see her bent over her desk, completely absorbed in writing something. He tried to stealthily sneak in to see what it was but she noticed him before he could and wasted no time in slamming her foot against his chest.

She also kept trying to avoid him. Once, when he invited her to have snacks with him and Yukine, she refused saying that she had an important family dinner to attend and she needed to prepare. He immediately became suspicious—it was impossible for Hiyori's parents to schedule an outing that day. It was a Friday and her father worked long hours and generally had little time to spare outside the hospital. Yato decided to skip snacks in favor of following Hiyori around, curious to see what her real plan was. He got about as far as two train stops before Hiyori spotted him and tackled him into a German Suplex.

Then, there was that other time when Hiyori gave him a job request. One of her friends needed help sewing her costume up for a school play and Hiyori had recommended him. The job wasn't too difficult, given his background in loom-weaving and he and Yukine managed to finish it in record time. Hiyori however, wasn't too happy to see them.

"Done _already_?" she said, looking dismayed as Yato picked through her refrigerator.

"Yeah!" he brightly said. He grabbed one of her father's beers and popped it open. "She was going to play a caterpillar so the only hard part was getting the mask right—and wait. Hiyori? Were you about to go somewhere?"

His brows pinched together as he took stock of what she was wearing. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a loose shirt and some rubber shoes. Clearly, she planned on going somewhere that involved long travel.

She nervously looked away and said, "Ahh, no. Not really. I was just planning on hanging out with Ami and Yama today."

"Ooookay," he said, scrutinizing her. Her fingers were protectively curled around what looked like a small, flat piece of rectangular wood and he noticed that her eyes kept darting towards it. He raised a brow and said, "Hey, what's that?"

She quickly hid whatever she was holding behind her back. She mumbled, "N-Nothing."

He opened his mouth to ask her more but before he could, Yukine spoke up, asking if he could have those books she had promised him a week ago. Hiyori looked relieved and eagerly agreed to get them, prompting Yato to loudly groan and glare at Yukine for the interruption.

It wasn't even long before she was at it again. This time, she didn't even bother to try to distract Yato or come up with excuses to not meet up with him. The moment school ended, she immediately switched her phone off and rushed to the train station, occasionally shooting furtive glances at her sides and back. But by then, Yato's curiosity had already been piqued and he would not rest until he knew where she kept wanting to go and what she was adamantly keeping from him. He quietly followed her, careful not to alert her of his presence.

It didn't take long for her to find out and she responded swiftly, grabbing him by the elbow and flinging him into a nearby trash bin. That didn't deter him from poking his head out of the bin and obnoxiously asking her where she was going. He never got the answer he wanted, but he did manage to get a nice afternoon, alone with her. The two of them ended up getting off the train and exploring a part of the city that Hiyori had never been to before.

Still, Yato could not bring himself to relax until he knew for certain who she was planning to meet up with. And why she was so resolute with him not finding out about it.

"Why won't she just tell me where she's going?" he whined as he rolled on his futon, wailing and clutching his Capyper stuffed toy.

Yukine gave an irritated sigh and turned away from the Math problem he was trying to solve. He said, "Maybe because it's none of your business! Quit bothering her about it. It's annoying."

"But I wanna know who she's seeing! And why she doesn't wanna tell me!"

Yukine shrugged. "Maybe it's because she's meeting up with someone for a date and she doesn't want to upset you or something."

"WHAT?" Yato exploded, sitting up. Yukine just rolled his eyes and returned to his worksheet, ignoring Yato's increasingly disgruntled blabbering.

The idea certainly wasn't impossible and the whole thing did start when Hiyori had that conversation with Tenjin. Perhaps the "he" the two of them were talking about was not a tutor for Hiyori, but rather a suitor. He scowled into his pillow, beyond annoyed. If that was truly the case then he would be having _words_ with Tenjin. But in the meantime, he just needed to pay closer attention to Hiyori.

The fourth time she tried to sneak away from him, she was more successful. Her parents were out and she invited him over to her house to watch his favorite show. He immediately accepted, dragging Yukine along. Kofuku monopolized the TV and Daikoku would always threatened him if he so much as suggested that they changed the channel, so he wasn't about to let the opportunity of watching his favorite drama go to waste.

It wasn't until he was halfway through the show that he realized that Hiyori had sneaked off. Before Yukine could say anything, Yato grabbed him by the wrist and rushed out the door. Tracking her wasn't too difficult. He remembered the line she got on the last time so all he really had to do was teleport himself to the train.

This time, he made sure to keep a good distance away from her (since she had an uncanny ability to detect his presence) and be as discreet as possible. It was a little difficult given Yukine's constant scolding and complaining but they did manage to follow her undetected as she got off the train and moved across the streets. She turned left to a corner that wasn't as busy, ducking past people and moving towards a bridge that lead to a—

"A shrine?" Yukine said.

"What? Who's shrine? Is it someone I know?" Yato demanded, grabbing Yukine's wrist and teleporting the two of them closer.

The shrine area was extremely busy and it seemed to be populated mostly by sad, anxious-looking teenagers and a few couples. Hiyori was walking past them, heading straight to the main shrine, wooden block tucked safely in her hand. With a start, he realized that it was an ema. Yato suddenly felt hurt. She was asking another god to grant her wish. Did that mean that she didn't trust him enough to ask him?

Yukine tugged at his sleeve and said as he squinted at the writing on the main gate. "It says here that it's the shrine of—''

 _"Musubi-no-kami?"_ he exploded, ignoring Yukine's motions for him to keep quiet. "No way! SHE'S ASKING FOR LOVE ADVICE?"

All at once, the bustle in the shrine stopped. Everyone turned to look at the two of them, including an extremely mortified Hiyori. From beside him, Yukine had stepped back, ducking his head and profusely muttering that he had no idea who the hell Yato was.

"Hiyori!" he said, stomping over towards her. Hiyori took a step back, flustered.

"Y-Yato! What are you doing here?" she spluttered.

"I could ask you the same thing! Is this what you were talking about with Tenjin? You wanted him to set you up on a meeting with Musubi!?" he demanded.

Hiyori avoided his gaze. "N-Not exactly—''

"Is it because you like someone?" he asked her. From where he was standing, he was dimly aware that everyone else was staring at them.

Hiyori anxiously tugged at her sleeves. "Yato, don't you think we should discuss this somewhere else—''

"No! I want to know _now_. Do you like somebody?"

Hiyori's cheeks reddened and she started spluttering, "W-What? No! Of course not!

"That has to be the only reason why you're here, right? Do you like somebody? It's okay! If you do, then I won't mind! I completely understand!" he said.

How did he not know about this person? And to think, he had prided himself in being very up to date with Hiyori's life.

"No! I don't like anyone!"

He gave her a suspicious look. "You're lying aren't you? Hiyoriiii. Stop lying. If you like someone just tell me—''

"For the millionth time Yato, no, I don't like anyone—and hey! What are you doing?"

She glared at him, incensed, as he plucked the ema from her hand. When he saw what was written on it, his stomach lurched.

"Is it wise for me to get together with him given our situation? I..." he thickly swallowed, finding it difficult to continue. He couldn't even bear to read it out loud. "I wish that there was a way for me to be with him forever."

"Y-Yato—''

"Who is it?" he demanded, voice solemn.

"Er...no one!"

"Is it Kazuma?"

"What? No—''

"Yukine?"

" _No_!"

"Hiyori! Tell me!" he insistently said.

Hiyori didn't answer him. Instead, she hastily started moving away, putting as much distance as she could between the two of them.

"Hiyori!"

"Ahh, I was only putting in a request for Yama. The ema wasn't for me," she mumbled.

"Hiyori! Teeelll meee!" Yato squealed as he lurched forward and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yato! Get off me!"

"Tell me who he is first!"

"No!"

 _"Tell me!"_

Hiyori's shoulder sagged in resignation, a tired sigh escaping from her lips. She turned to look at him, her face beet red. Yato bounced on his heels, anxious to find out who the person was. Was it someone from her school?

"He's um...he's um...he cares a lot about me and he's always interested in the things that I do and...and...we always have a lot of fun together..."

Before Hiyori had given him the description, Yato had been confident that no guy could top him. But after hearing what she had to say, he had to grudgingly accept that this mystery guy did sound like someone who cared a great deal for Hiyori. Still, she hadn't bothered to describe any of his physical characteristics and even though Yato looked sloppy at times, he was very confident of his looks.

"Is he taller than me?" he demanded.

Hiyori's face became an even deeper shade of red. She looked at the ground and stuttered, "N-No. He's...he's just about your height."

Yato furrowed his brows at her. "Who is this guy? Is he better looking than me?"

Hiyori closed her eyes and held her breath, looking mortally embarrassed.

"Hiyori?" Yato prodded.

She loudly exhaled and said, " _He is you, stupid_!"

Yato stared at her for several moments, hardly daring to believe it. When he had finally fully processed what she had said, he immediately tackled her into a hug, ignoring her flustered squeal.

 _"Well, why didn't you just say so?_ Of course we should be together! _"_ he happily yelled. He pressed his cheek against hers, oblivious to all of the giddy "awww" and "how romantic" resounding from all around them. A few people clapped and started snapping pictures.

He then turned to Yukine, who had retreated to the corner, looking as if he desperately wanted to disappear. "YUKINE! Did you just hear that!? Hiyori likes me back! You're officially getting a mom!"

Hiyori squeaked in protest while Yukine looked away and yelled back, cheeks red, "S-Shut up! I don't know who you are!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hugs and sparkles for anyone who managed to get that Avatar The Last Airbender shout out (but if you don't watch the show and didn't get it, I'll still hug you anyway ^^). Anyway, I definitely think that when Hiyori starts realizing she likes Yato more than as a friend, she would worry about their situation and the fact that their relationship might not be permanent, before telling him how she feels. Fics that are long than 3000 words will be uploaded separately.

Thank you for reading and please give me reviews (and five yen hehehehe) if you have the time ^^


	3. Overprotective

**Overprotective**

* * *

When Yato and Hiyori started dating, Hiyori told him that it would be best that they not tell Masaomi for a while. He took his job as her big brother _very seriously_ and for as long as she could remember, he had taken it upon himself to protect her from members of the opposite sex. The first time was when she was in kindergarten and he caught Hiyori holding hands with another boy. He retaliated swiftly, sending a barrage of snowballs at the poor five-year-old.

Then, there was that time in grade school when a boy had gone to her house to give her chocolates for White Day. Masaomi answered the door before she could and when he saw the neatly wrapped, heart-shaped box in the boy's hand, he wasted no time in giving thinly-veiled threats as he ushered the boy into the house. Hiyori didn't know how Masaomi managed to do it but by the time she went up to meet the boy, he was already sufficiently creeped out and could only give a slightly terrified squeak as he handed her the chocolates and bolted away.

And when she had to go on an overnight school field trip in middle school, he protested it much more vehemently than her parents did. He spent several heated hours trying to convince their father that it was not in his best interest to allow his one and only daughter to spend a night _unsupervised_ in an area where she would be in close proximity with boys. Yes, there were teachers and yes, the girls and boys would be sleeping in different rooms. But teachers could be careless idiots and rooms could be sneaked into and there was no telling what kind of lecherous things boys thought of at that time of the night. Luckily, her father had only thanked him for his concern before persisting in his determination to let Hiyori have her freedom and telling him that he trusted her and the school staff completely.

Incidents such as that had become rare and far in between since her brother started college (which was, by the way, a point of worry for him because with him gone, who would be there to look after her honor, especially since their parents absolutely refused to do such familial duties? ). But with him back to help out in the hospital, he had decided to resume his duty of scaring away every boy that showed even the slightest hint of romantic interest in her.

In fact, it had already started. Even after Hiyori had assured him that she and Yato were just friends, he tried his hardest to feign interest in whatever it was that they were planning to do. Going to the mall? Perfect! He was just planning on going there to buy some socks. Visiting the zoo? Wonderful! He couldn't wait to see the exotic wildlife! Tour of old temples and buildings? Fascinating! He just _loved_ history. On the way to Kamuhakari? Amazing! Week-long, boring meetings were just his style. Oh, what do you mean you need to be a phantom to be there? That was okay, he was perfectly fine with just hiding in Hiyori's suitcase.

"See?" Hiyori solemnly said. "Do you understand why we can't tell him yet? He's already not leaving us alone, how much more if he finds out that we're dating? We're going to have to ease him into it."

"Just how many boys tried to give you chocolates on White Day?" Yato demanded.

Hiyori blinked at him. "What?"

"And did anyone really try to do anything with you when you had that field trip?"

"What are you—''

"And how badly hurt was that boy? Did Masaomi get him good with the snowballs?" Yato said, lips curving into a malicious smirk.

Hiyori scowled at him before tackling him into a hurricarana and fiercely saying, "Have you not been listening to anything that I've been saying!?"

"What!?" Yato said as he attempted to wrench free from her grip. "He deserved to be snowballed! Hiyori! Hiyoriii. Let me go!"

Actually, _anyone_ who held Hiyori's hand that wasn't him deserved to be snowballed.

The two of them bickered for a while but eventually, they came to the agreement that they would not be telling Masaomi that they were dating until Hiyori gave the go signal.

And so, for the next few weeks, Yato was content to keep a good distance away from Hiyori and refrain from hugging or kissing her whenever they were in Masaomi's presence. They did a whole lot _more_ when he wasn't there anyway so Yato could stand to control himself for a few minutes. And besides, it seemed as if they had thrown him off their track. Recently, he had backed off and stopped trying to strong-arm his way into their dates. He even gave up on trying to go with them on the latest Kamuhakari, not even raising much fuss when Hiyori informed him that she would be going alone with Yato and Yukine.

Things were going along rather well up until he, Hiyori and Yukine took another trip to Capyperland and Yukine snapped a picture of them waiting in line for a ride. The photograph was cute. The two of them were standing side by side, with his arm wrapped around Hiyori's waist and her head leaning against his shoulder. She was wearing his jacket (he remembered giving it to her because she had forgotten her own and it was cold) and her lips were stretched into this adorable smile that gave him the warm fuzzies whenever he looked at it.

So he just _had_ to post it on twitter. With the caption, "Sunday fun day with my girl 3 ^_^ :D"

It wasn't long before Masaomi contacted him.

Thinking that he was probably just asking for toilet paper again, Yato quickly teleported over to where Masaomi was without bothering to bring Yukine along. There was no way he was subjecting Yukine to _that_ again. His shinki might be annoying at times but Yato wasn't _that_ cruel.

He had scarcely stepped over to Masaomi's room when he was assaulted by the very loud yell of "YOU'RE DATING MY SISTER?"

Yato stared at him, unable to think of what to say next. "Eh?"

"I thought that you guys were just friends!" Masaomi said, outraged.

Remembering his promise to Hiyori, he nervously sputtered, "W-What? What are you talking about? We are just friends! I'm not dating—''

"Don't lie to me! I saw this on twitter!" he hissed, pulling his phone out and presenting the offending picture.

"How did you even get my twitter? Wait. Are you stalking me?"

"Hiyori asked me to follow you! And stop trying to distract me! Answer me honestly! You and Hiyori...are you two — "

"N-NO—''

"It says here 'my girl'!"

"I meant that in a friend kind of way!"

"No, you didn't!"

"I did!"

"Didn't!"

" _Did_!"

 _"Didn't!"_

"Fine! Yes! We're dating!" Yato exasperatedly said.

"What!? _What!?_ " Masaomi said, looking horrified. He placed both of his hands over his face and moaned. "How could I have missed this?"

"Hey! You don't have to look so disgusted!" Yato protested.

"How can I not be disgusted? You're preying on my poor, innocent, baby sister!"

"I'm not! And Hiyori's not a baby! She knows exactly what she's doing—''

"No she doesn't! You're like a million years old! Stop preying on teenagers! You...you pedo creep!"

"I'm not that old!" Yato hotly replied. He really wasn't. He was probably a thousand years old, give or take. And okay, fine. Maybe he was very old but it wasn't as if he had the brain of an old man. When you could live forever, it was a little hard to deal with the psychological effects of growing up.

"You're earning potential is _zero_ —''

"Excuse you, I now have _three_ bottles full of five yen coins," Yato indignantly said.

"And you're a jersey-wearing, homeless hobo —''

"There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing! And the homelessness is only temporary! Just you wait! When I have a million shrines, you will eat your words!"

"How far have you two gone? Answer me!"

"That's none of your business!" Yato said, ears red. No way was he sharing any of his private activities with Hiyori to her older brother.

"No. I absolutely do not approve of this union. I forbid you from going out with my sister!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Seriously! Don't date her!"

"I already am!"

"She's too young for boys!"

"She's _sixteen_! Having a boyfriend is a perfectly normal thing for a sixteen year old to do." He crossed his arms. "What are you going to do? You can't keep her locked up in a tower forever!"

The two of them stared at each other, fists balled, neither backing down.

Finally, Masaomi sighed and looked at his shoes, a resigned expression on his face. "You're right. She's growing up. I need to give her some freedom."

Yato's lips quirked into a smug grin, happy at being proven right.

"Yato-san," Masaomi said. He pulled his wallet out from his pocket, took a five yen coin out and held it out to Yato. "I have a wish I want to ask from you."

"Name it."

"Take good care of my sister and treat her well," he said, voice serious.

Yato stared at the coin, suddenly feeling guilty for being so cross. Masaomi was just doing what any big brother would do—he was just looking out for his sister's well-being.

Yato bowed. "I promise. I promise to take good care of her, to always treat her well and with respect, to protect her, to never sully her honor and to do everything, _everything_ , in my power to make her the happiest girl in the world. "

Masaomi gave a satisfied nod as Yato took the coin. "Good."

He thought that the two of them had come to an understanding and was just about to leave when Masaomi said, "Wait! I'm not done wishing yet!"

Yato stared at him in confusion. "Hah?"

He held out another coin. "I wish for you to bring her back by seven o'clock sharp, every evening—''

" _Seven o'clock?"_ Yato said, dismayed.

He pulled out another coin. "And no taking her to dangerous places—''

"Okay, I won't—''

Another coin. "And be sure to text me wherever you guys are going so I'll know where she is if something bad happens—''

"Okay, fine, I'll—''

"And no making her cry. At all. Or ever," Masaomi said as he placed one, last coin on Yato's palm. Then, his brows pulled downwards into a fierce scowl. "Or you'll have to deal with me."

Yato didn't have it in his heart to tell Masaomi that if he wanted to, he could hack him up into bits with Sekki and unleash divine wrath upon him.

"I promise," Yato solemnly said.

"Oh and I almost forgot!" Masaomi said as he hurried over to one of his drawers and pulled a thick stack of papers out.

Yato stared at them dubiously. "Um...what's that?"

"These are my one hundred and thirteen rules for PDA," Masaomi importantly said.

" _One hundred and thirteen?_ _What_? Is Hiyori a nun? What the—''

"Hey, don't complain! This isn't even counting my thirty-three rules on what you two _aren't_ allowed to do in private—''

 _"Y-You're insane!"_

* * *

Moments later, as he and Hiyori were having a cuddle session, her phone beeped and after pulling it out and reading what was written on it, she turned to look at Yato and said, "Um...Yato?"

"Hm?"

"Why is onii-san trying to stuff himself into the suitcase I have packed for Kamuhakari?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the lack of Hiyori hahaha But I felt like writing some overprotective Masaomi. I'm actually surprised there aren't fics like these yet. So, I definitely think Yato's a thousand years old. During the flashback we saw of him as a little kid, the clothes the people were wearing were that of the Heian Era. There are actually more reasons why I think he was "born" in the Heian Era but I won't bore you with them.

Thank you for reading and if you have the time, give me some reviews (and maybe a five yen coin)!


	4. Proposal

**Proposal**

* * *

The job would have been easy if it weren't for one, tiny detail: the owner of wedding planning agency _could_ see him.

Yato learned about it the hard way when he got tackled and arrested for suspicious behavior and stalking. The woman, like most people, had completely forgotten about him and the incident afterwards but she still refused to entertain Yato on the grounds that he looked _nothing_ like someone who was about to get married. There had been too many robberies in the past week and she'll be damned if she let a jersey-wearing hobo get the better of her. Yato snippily responded that he did in fact, have a fiancée and if she wanted, he could bring her over the next day. Then, he stomped out the building, rudely yelling about how awfully she treated her customers and how she would be hearing from him in the papers about her poor treatment in the coming days.

For the rest of the afternoon, Yato did nothing but try to find someone who was willing to pretend to be his wife-to-be.

He first approached Kofuku. She was game for it and even had a whole background story and outfit planned. Sadly, they didn't get very far before Daikoku found out and bopped Yato on the head, deeming the whole plan to be too dangerous. Kofuku brought disaster with her _everywhere_ she went and with the luck she had, the whole store would probably end up in flames before Yato managed to weed out the malevolent phantom that was haunting its upper floors. Plus, Kofuku was _no one's_ lady but Daikoku's.

Yato left their house, muttering and cursing Daikoku under his breath.

He then briefly considered asking Bishamon to pose as his fiancée although he immediately vetoed the idea on the account of her being a _psycho_. He couldn't even imagine being engaged to her, even if it was all just going to be pretend.

In desperation, he asked Yukine to be his fiancée but before he could finish his request, his shinki kicked him on the shin and called him crazy. There was no way in hell he was going to pretend to be Yato's husband, no matter how brief or how life-threatening the wedding planner's situation was (Yukine hated her anyway—she was snobby and the wedding gowns she had on display were tacky).

In the end, Yato was left with no other option. He was going to have to ask Hiyori to be his wife.

He didn't bother asking her even though she was his first option because he didn't want to freak her out. The last time he suggested something that was even remotely related to marriage, she blushed several shades of red before kicking him on the stomach and squealing, "W-What are you talking about? _Baka!"_

He decided that if he didn't want to be tackled or punched or be pulled into whatever crazy wrestling move Hiyori had up her sleeve, he had to ask her in a public place. That way, she would think twice before beating him up.

The next day, he called her up and told her to meet him in a sushi bar just a couple of blocks away from her school. By the time he got there, she was already sitting in one of the tables, patiently scrolling through her phone as she waited for him.

"Hiyori!" he called out.

She looked up and cheerfully waved at him. He walked over towards her and before she could hand him the menu and ask him what he wanted, he gently grabbed her hands and pulled her up.

"Yato," she frowned. "What are you—''

"Do you remember that job I told you about? The one with the wedding planning agency?" he asked her.

"You mean the one where you got arrested and I had to give up a day of hanging out with my friends just so I could treat your broken arm?" she dryly said.

"Yes, that one!"

He beamed at her.

She narrowed her eyes against in him suspicion.

She opened her mouth to say something else but he cut her off by placing her hands close to his chest. The result was instantaneous. Her face turned into a deep shade of red and her body tensed, as if she was internally preparing to throw him to the nearest trash can. But before she could, someone loudly sneezed and she blinked and looked around. Yato grinned, aware that Hiyori finally realized that she couldn't just tackle him—whether people saw him or not, either way, she would still end up looking weird.

"You've always been there for me haven't you?"

"Er...I guess so—''

"Whenever I needed you, you didn't hesitate to help me no matter how dangerous the situation was. Whenever I needed comfort, you were there to hug me. Whenever I lost sight of my goal, you encouraged me—''

"Yato, why are you speaking so loud—''

"You encourage me to be better than who I am. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't get to where I am right now. You were my first believer, first follower, first love—''

 _"What?"_ she screeched.

"Er...I meant first glove—''

"Glove?" She ticked a brow up."Yato, what are you trying to say?"

"Iki Hiyori, you're my first everything. And I want to be your last."

He let go of her hands and dropped to his knee. Hiyori's eyes widened and she grabbed his wrists as she attempted to pull him up.

 _"Yato, what are you doing?" s_ he hissed.

Yato ignored her and stayed put. He pulled a ring box out from his pocket and held it out to her. Hiyori puffed her cheeks up, her face practically maroon. She was grabbing the hem of her uniform jacket, her eyes blinking rapidly. Yato looked at her in anticipation, dimly aware that everyone was staring at them now.

"I know we're young. I know you haven't gotten out of high school yet—''

"Yato..." Hiyori said in warning.

"This is probably a bad time but...marry me Hiyori?" he said, opening the ring box. Everyone around them swiveled around in their seats and burst into applause. A few started snapping pictures.

Hiyori made a small strangled sound that quickly died the moment she saw what was in the box.

"Is that...is that a ring pop?" she incredulously asked.

He loudly coughed. "Er...yes! The jewelry shops were all closed so I had to improvise."

"It's ten in the morning."

"Hiyori!" Yato indignantly replied. He leaned forward and whispered, "Can you not be so loud? It's rude to point out how poor I am in front of all these people!"

"No more rude than trapping me in a public proposal that came out of nowhere!" she hissed back.

"Daikoku wouldn't let me use Kofuku as a fake fiancée," he grit out. "And the wedding planner lady refuses to see me until I bring along my wife-to-be."

"Oh."

He lowered his voice. "Look, Hiyori. You don't have to actually marry me, okay? But if you want to—''

"I don't want to!''

"—then that's fine too. Just...just pose as my wife when we get to the wedding planner. Yukine and I need to locate that phantom and kill it."

"Yato, I can't help you do this."

"But Hiyoriiii...think of all those poor depressed people."

She gave an exasperated sigh.

He just beamed at her and waved the ring box around.

"Well?" he said. "Are you gonna be with me forever or what?"

She leaned closer and carefully inspected the ring pop, her brows still drawn together in annoyance. "What flavor is that?"

"Cherry! You're favorite!" he promptly replied.

She pursed her lips before a running a hand through her face. She looked at him, several emotions flickering across her eyes as she bit her lip in contemplation. Finally, she gave a defeated sigh.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it."

"Yay—''

"But," she folded her arms and regarded him with a determined look. "If we're going to pretend, this is what our wedding is going to be like. It's going to be at sunset on a beach in Antigua—''

" _Antigua_?"

"Yes." She gave him a hard look, as if daring him to contradict her. He thickly swallowed before nodding his head and gesturing for her to continue. "And then I'll walk down the aisle to an a capella version of Supercell and Tia's _Heart Realize_ and as I do so, the flower girls will be tossing the peony petals into a soft butterfly formation."

"Okaaaay," Yato said as he gave her an odd look. She was weirdly specific about how she wanted her wedding to be like. He wondered if she thought about it often. Hiyori didn't seem like the type to, what with her obsessive love for wrestling, but he figured that she probably just wanted to get their "wedding plans" fleshed out before they went on to meet the wedding planner.

"And oh. I get to name all our children."

Yato blinked at her. "What?"

Hiyori's face had turned red again but she decidedly looked less embarrassed. "I get to name all our children. Or er...fake children."

"How about I let you name all our children except for the eldest whom we'll name Yato Junior?"

"No."

"But—''

"No!"

"Fine! Deal!"

Yato carefully slipped the ring into her finger before turning to everyone else and yelling, "She said yes everybody! She said yes! She loves me so much!"

The whole restaurant burst into applause as Yato triumphantly beamed at all of them.

Hiyori just shook her head, her arms folded. But she wasn't fooling Yato.

He could see her carefully stroking the ring, an adorable little smile on her face.

She _so_ wanted to marry him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Much of this fic is inspired by the _Pysch_ episode Rob-A-Bye Baby. Especially the bit about Antigua and the flower girls.


End file.
